Recently there have been conflicting reports about the status of David Wright‘s injured shoulder, but the Mets third baseman is out of the lineup tonight for the second straight game and admitted that he’s still hurting.

Wright is actually sitting out due to neck spasms, but told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that the shoulder is a bigger problem and is still “not 100 percent.”

He’s gone 143 at-bats without a homer, including hitting .215 since the All-Star break, yet Wright continues to insist that even at “not 100 percent” his shoulder isn’t the reason for his career-worst season:

Is the shoulder 100 percent? No. But that takes rest. And that’s what the offseason is for. But is that the reason that I’m struggling the way I’m struggling? No. So I think it’s not a reasonable assessment as to why I’m playing poorly. The assessment as to why I’m playing poorly is that I’m not producing the way I’m capable of producing. I don’t think it’s because of my shoulder.

“I’m not producing because I’m not producing” doesn’t really address the issue, although I suppose Wright deserves some level of credit for not making excuses. Of course, if continuing to play through the shoulder problem is leading to horrible production it isn’t really helping Wright or the Mets anyway.

Mets hitting coach Lamar Johnson thinks the shoulder has been an issue and presumably he’s talked to Wright about it, so public quotes to the contrary or not it’s hard not to conclude the shoulder is to blame.